| Back to... |
|
Share Our Stories! - Click Here |
Abbas on Trump’s 'Deal of the Century' |
| By
Stephen Lendman |
| He’s a deplorable character, a longtime Israeli collaborator, anointed
Palestinian Authority president in January 2005, not legitimately elected. He’s hugely corrupt, a self-serving Judas, betraying his people in return for special benefits. His appointed term expired in January 2009, no subsequent elections held. On orders from Israel and Washington, the PLO Central Council approved his term of office indefinitely. As president and in earlier capacities, he served his US and Israeli masters, Palestinians getting nothing except endless conflict, persecution and subjugation - he enforced as PA leader. His rhetoric rings hollow, on Sunday saying Trump’s (no-peace) peace plan insults Palestinians. So did Oslo, Oslo II, subsequent agreements, and no-peace/peace talks each time initiated, accomplishing nothing, Israel using the ruse to continue stealing Palestinian land for illegal settlement construction. “We told Trump we will not accept his project, (the) ‘deal of the century’ (in fact a) ‘slap of the century,’ “ Abbas roared, in response to US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s exclusive capital, adding deceitfully: “We will slap back.” We do not take instructions from anyone, and say ‘no’ to anyone if it is about our destiny, our cause, our country and our people…1,000 times no.” He and other Palestinian officials relinquished the rights of their people to Israeli demands under Oslo and subsequent agreements, with one exception, ending badly. In July 2000, Bill Clinton hosted Yasser Arafat and Ehud Barak at Camp David - the Palestinian leader given an offer he couldn’t accept, mischaracterized as “generous” and “unprecedented.” Barak insisted Arafat sign a “final agreement,” declare an “end of conflict,” and give up any legal claim to historic Palestinian land. No Israeli offer in writing was presented, no documents or maps. Barak offered Arafat four isolated cantons under Palestinian administration, surrounded by expanding settlements and other Israeli-controlled land. It was a plan no responsible leader could accept. Arafat rejected it, making him a marked man. Refusal cost him his life, poisoned by Israel, dying in a Paris hospital in November 2004, days after becoming ill, deteriorating badly, slipping into a coma from which he never recovered. He lost his value, no longer an Israeli asset. Credible evidence showed he was assassinated, his death not accidental, the lesson not lost on Abbas. Would he dare reject Trump’s phony “deal of the century?” Will he refuse to deal with his no-peace/peace negotiators? Will he no longer accept Palestinian subjugation under Oslo? “We are an authority without any power and under an occupation without any cost. We will not accept it remaining like this,” he roared. It’s been this way for 70 punishing years - since Oslo, Abbas and other Palestinian traitors selling out their people in return for special privileges. He has two options. Remain in office as a subservient US/Israeli enforcer or resign, letting Israel replace him with another easily controlled puppet. Challenging deplorable occupation harshness responsibly would doom him, his fate the way Arafat was eliminated. Palestinians lack responsible governance. Besieged in Gaza, Hamas can’t help. It’s powerless to change things. Committed resistance is their only chance to one day achieve what’s so far been unattainable. Nothing else can work. VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III." http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html |